Sturmgewehr Field Strip (STG44/MP44/MP43)

The German Sturmgewehr is one of the most coveted and influential firearms of all time. Advanced collectors seek them out to round out their shrines, but getting behind one is a whole different kind of experience. The low recoil, controllability, and historical significance makes shooting a sturm a very pleasant experience.

I am… About 99% sure that the dust cover, magazine release, and “shotgun” receiver hinge on the AR-15 are taken from the MP.44. AR-10 Serial No. 1003 (“AR-10A”) of late 1955 had a magazine release inside the trigger guard, no dust cover, and receivers that slid together on rails, and looked like this:

AR-10 Serial No. 1004 (“AR-10B”) of the next year was a radically different design that resembled the AR pattern rifles we know and love today, and featured the push-through magazine release, a conspicuously similar dust cover, and shotgunning receiver halves, all features of the MP.44. It seems likely to me that some time in late 1955 or 1956, the Armalite team got some “good ideas” from a Sturmgewehr they saw somewhere, which were subsequently incorporated into the design of the AR-10:

The selector lever on the AR-10/15 resembles the MP.44’s as well, though I don’t think it’s derived from that rifle’s. Johnson’s LMG of 1941 features a similar selector/safety on the opposite side, and also is the origin of the straight-line stock characteristic of the AR series (which some have suggested comes from the German FG-42). Johnson worked for Armalite directly on the early AR-10s. All of the AR-10 prototypes before S/N 1004 feature rotary selectors of that type.